23 Season 2017-2018 Thursday, April 12, at 7:30 Friday, April 13, at 2:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Saturday, April 14, at 8:00 Sunday, April 15, at 2:00 Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor Daniil Trifonov Piano Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 (April 12 and 13 only) I. Moderato II. Adagio sostenuto III. Allegro scherzando Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 (April 14 and 15 only) I. Allegro ma non tanto II. Intermezzo: Adagio— III. Finale: Alla breve Intermission Bartók Concerto for Orchestra I. Introduzione: Andante non troppo—Allegro vivace II. Giuoco delle coppie: Allegretto scherzando III. Elegia: Andante non troppo IV. Intermezzo interrotto: Allegretto V. Finale: Pesante—Presto The April 12 and 13 program runs approximately 1 hour, 40 minutes. The April 14 and 15 program runs approximately 1 hour, 50 minutes. Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 are being recorded live for future release by Deutsche Grammophon. We ask for your cooperation in making this project a success. Please make every effort to minimize noise during the concert. The April 12 concert is sponsored by the Louis N. Cassett Foundation. The April 12 concert is also sponsored by Cynthia and Scott Schumacker. The April 14 concert is sponsored by Ralph Muller. Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM, and are repeated on Monday evenings at 7 PM on WRTI HD 2. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details. 24 The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin The Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia is home and impact through Research. is one of the preeminent the Orchestra continues The Orchestra’s award- orchestras in the world, to discover new and winning Collaborative renowned for its distinctive inventive ways to nurture Learning programs engage sound, desired for its its relationship with its over 50,000 students, keen ability to capture the loyal patrons at its home families, and community hearts and imaginations of in the Kimmel Center, members through programs audiences, and admired for and also with those who such as PlayINs, side-by- a legacy of imagination and enjoy the Orchestra’s area sides, PopUP concerts, innovation on and off the performances at the Mann free Neighborhood concert stage. The Orchestra Center, Penn’s Landing, Concerts, School Concerts, is inspiring the future and and other cultural, civic, and residency work in transforming its rich tradition and learning venues. The Philadelphia and abroad. of achievement, sustaining Orchestra maintains a strong Through concerts, tours, the highest level of artistic commitment to collaborations residencies, presentations, quality, but also challenging— with cultural and community and recordings, The and exceeding—that level, organizations on a regional Philadelphia Orchestra is and national level, all of which by creating powerful musical a global ambassador for create greater access and experiences for audiences at Philadelphia and for the engagement with classical home and around the world. US. Having been the first music as an art form. American orchestra to Music Director Yannick The Philadelphia Orchestra perform in China, in 1973 Nézet-Séguin’s connection serves as a catalyst for at the request of President to the Orchestra’s musicians cultural activity across Nixon, the ensemble today has been praised by Philadelphia’s many boasts new five-year both concertgoers and communities, building an partnerships with Beijing’s critics since his inaugural offstage presence as strong National Centre for the season in 2012. Under his as its onstage one. With Performing Arts and the leadership the Orchestra Nézet-Séguin, a dedicated Shanghai Media Group. In returned to recording, body of musicians, and one 2018 the Orchestra travels with three celebrated of the nation’s richest arts to Europe and Israel. The CDs on the prestigious ecosystems, the Orchestra Orchestra annually performs Deutsche Grammophon has launched its HEAR at Carnegie Hall while also label, continuing its history initiative, a portfolio of enjoying summer residencies of recording success. The integrated initiatives that in Saratoga Springs, NY, and Orchestra also reaches promotes Health, champions Vail, CO. For more information thousands of listeners on the music Education, eliminates on The Philadelphia radio with weekly broadcasts barriers to Accessing the Orchestra, please visit on WRTI-FM and SiriusXM. orchestra, and maximizes www.philorch.org. 4 Music Director Chris Lee Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin is now confirmed to lead The Philadelphia Orchestra through the 2025-26 season, an extraordinary and significant long-term commitment. Additionally, he becomes the third music director of the Metropolitan Opera beginning with the 2018-19 season; he is currently music director designate. Yannick, who holds the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair, is an inspired leader of The Philadelphia Orchestra. His intensely collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called him “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton, “the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better.” Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most thrilling talents of his generation. He is in his 10th and final season as music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and he has been artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000. In summer 2017 he became an honorary member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He was also principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic from 2008 to 2014. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles and has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses. Yannick and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with three CDs on that label. He continues fruitful recording relationships with the Rotterdam Philharmonic on DG, EMI Classics, and BIS Records; the London Philharmonic for the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique. In Yannick’s inaugural season The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to the radio airwaves, with weekly Sunday afternoon broadcasts on WRTI- FM. A native of Montreal, Yannick studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at Montreal’s Conservatory of Music and continued his studies with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini; he also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are a appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada; Musical America’s 2016 Artist of the Year; Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier; and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec in Montreal, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ. To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit philorch.org/conductor. 25 Soloist Dario Acosta/Deutsche Grammophon Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov, Gramophone’s 2016 Artist of the Year, has made a spectacular ascent in the world of classical music as a solo artist, a champion of the concerto repertoire, a collaborator in chamber music and song, and a composer. He first appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra at Saratoga in 2013 and made his subscription debut in 2015, just weeks after Deutsche Grammophon (DG) released the Grammy-nominated recording Rachmaninoff Variations with him, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Focusing on Chopin in the 2017-18 season, Mr. Trifonov releases Chopin: Evocation, his fourth album as an exclusive DG artist, which includes works by Chopin and 20th-century composers who were greatly influenced by the Polish master. He gives more than 20 recitals on the same theme across the US, Europe, and Asia, including one at Carnegie Hall as part of a seven-concert, season-long Perspectives series that he curates. He also gives performances of his own Piano Concerto with longtime collaborator Valery Gergiev leading the Mariinsky Orchestra and Giancarlo Guerrero and the Detroit Symphony; curates a series of recitals and orchestral appearances at the Vienna Konzerthaus; and tours Asia and Europe. In addition to these current concerts, he performs Rachmaninoff with Mr. Gergiev and the Munich Philharmonic, Peter Oundjian and the Toronto Symphony, and Michael Tilson Thomas in season-closing performances with the San Francisco Symphony, Mr. Trifonov’s recordings with DG also include Transcendental, a double album of Liszt’s complete concert etudes, and Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital, a recording of his Carnegie Hall recital debut, which won both an ECHO Klassik Award and a Grammy nomination. His discography also features a Chopin album for Decca and a recording of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with Mr. Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra on the ensemble’s own label. Born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1991, Mr. Trifonov attended Moscow’s Gnessin School of Music before pursuing piano studies with Sergei Babayan at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has also studied composition and continues to write for piano, chamber ensemble, and orchestra. 26 Framing the Program The 23-year-old Sergei Rachmaninoff was utterly Parallel Events shattered in 1897 by